Fluid stirring device



Patented Dec. 1, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to fluid stirring devices adapted for use upon acylindrical container, and more particularly to a stirring device formixing and stirring paint.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a stirring devicewhich may be removably positioned upon the open end of a fluidcontainer, such as a paint can, and which includes a manually rotatablepaddle positionable down into the fluid within the container forstirring the same.

It is the further object of this invention to provide a simplified fluidstirring device which is adapted for use upon containers of differentdiameters.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a paint stirringdevice which eliminate the use of a stick for such purpose, keeps theusers hands clean, and is fully effective as a stirring mechanism.

It is the further object of this invention to provide a simplified andinexpensive paint stirring device which is easy to assemble and which iseasy to mount upon the open end of a paint or other fluid container.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specificationand claims in conjunction with the appended drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the present stirring device mounted upon afluid container.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view partially in section showing the paddleshaft and handle construction in one piece; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevational section showing a slightly difierentform of bearing mounting.

It will be understood that the above drawing illustrates merely apreferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments arecontemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set out.

Referring to the drawing, a fluid container II, which may contain paint,has bottom wall I2, and is provided at its upper open end with anannular formed flange IS with an inner beading l4.

-Said flange is adapted to removably receive the conventional coverwhose depending flange cooperates with flange I3.

I The stirring. device includes a substantially semi-circular formedplate I5 which has a central circularly shaped platform I6 and a pair ofhorizontally extending annularly shaped flanges- I! and I9.

Platform IS terminates in the upright shoulder I8 which is substantiallycircular in shape, and the upper end of shoulder I8 terminates in thehorizontally arranged flange [1.

Flange I? terminates in the upright peripheral flange 26, which issubstantially circular in shape; and the upper end of shoulder 20terminates in the peripheral horizontally arranged flange I9, which asshown in Fig. 2 extends laterally of the side walls of container I I.

An upright bearing is mounted upon the platform It and consists of theuprights 2! with right angular legs 22 at their lower ends suitablysecured to a platform I6, such as by the welds 23. The upper ends ofuprights 2| are interconnected by the horizontal portion 2| which has acentrally depressed apertured portion 25 in registry with an upwardlyformed apertured portion 24 formed within platform I6.

Thus, the upright bearing 2I2I-22 is secured to the plate I6 and itsaperture is in registry with the corresponding aperture formed in plateI5.

Upright manually rotatable shaft 26 is jour nailed through theregistering apertures in bearing 2! and platform I6, and extendsdownwardly into container I I.

The upper end of shaft '26 has a reduced threaded portion 21 upon whichthe handle 28 is threadably secured at one end.

Horizontally arranged handle 28 has an upright operating element 29swivelly secured as at 30 to the outer end of handle 28.

The upright, preferably rectangular paddle 3I has a curved upright edge32 which engages around the lower portion of shaft 26 and is suitablysecured therewith as by the welds 33, shown in Fig. 3. The stirringdevice may be used with the upright paddle 3| alone for certain sizes ofcontainers; however Figs. 2 and 3 show an upright preferably rectangularpaddle blade 34 which is hinged at one upright edge to the adjacentupright edge of paddle 3 I.

The hinge employed is so constructed that blade 34 may lie in parallelengaging relation with paddle 3|, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, ormay be fully opened into substantial coplanar or parallel relationshipwith paddle 3 I. 1

The particular hinge employed, generally designated at 35, includes acircularly curved tongue 36 which is formed from paddle 3| and extendsloosely through an upright slot 31 formed in paddie blade 34. However,paddle 3| has extensions 39 which are substantially parallel to paddle3| and which are adapted to limit the opening movement of plate 34 tothe position shown in Fig. 3.

Thus, by rotating shaft 26 in a clockwise direction within containerblade 34 will open into substantially coplanar relationship shown inFigs. 2 and 3, the outer upright edge of blade 34 being forwardly curvedas at 38.

The lower horizontal edges of paddle 3| and blade 34 are serrated as at40 and are adapted for scraping over the bottom wall l2 of container I.It is apparent that counter-clockwise rotation of shaft 26 would cause apartial pivotal movement of blade 34 and, therefore, would not ingpaddle 41 projects upwardly through the aperture in platform I6 andthrough the corresponding aligned aperture in bearing 2|, and the upperportion of shaft 46 is bent normally of the body of the shaft definingthe handle arm 48 which is upturned at its outer end as at 49 to providea grip for the handle. This provides a more simplified structure whereinthe handle is formed as a part of the shaft.

The bearing 2|22 shows one form of journal for shaft 26, however, it iscontemplated that other types of hearing may be employed, such as shownfor illustration in Fig. 5. In this figure be fully effective for mixingthe paint or other The above described stirring device may also beselectively used for a smaller diameter container, such as the quartsize container 4|42 shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The secondcontainer 4| shown in dotted lines is similarly provided with a.conventional internal annular flange 43 and corresponding bead 44 at itsopen end.

The above described plate I5 is provided with the two spaced uprightshoulders l8 and 28 to thereby permit the selective use of the onestirring device with either a large or a small container.

In the preferred embodiment, Fig. 2, the shoulder cooperates with thebead H! on flange l3 and the adjacent horizontal flange IQ of plate l5bears upon container flange I3. In some situations the shoulder 20 willsnugly engage the bead 1, however, as these containers are not standardexactly, there will be situations where the shoulder 20 will be moreloosely positioned within and adjacent the bead M.

In the event that the stirring device is to be used for a substantiallysmaller container, such as the quart container 4|--42, then the uprightshoulder I8 is adapted for positioning within and cooperation with bead44 of the horizontal container flange 43 shown in dotted lines. Ofcourse, it will be noted that the paddle 3| will then be elevated to thedotted line position shown, and the blade 34 will be folded over paddle3|. Of course, the shaft 26 would be moved upwardly sufficiently so thatpaddle 3| will bear against the bottom 42 of container 4|.

Horizontally arranged pin or shaft 45 is secured at one end to handle 28adjacent shaft 26 and provides a means whereby a paint brush may besuspended therefrom and hang down into the container. For this purpose,a small loop of cord is tied around the paint brush handle and a portionof the loop is slipped over the free end of the pin 45.

The present stirring device includes the semicircular plate |5 wherebyduring the painting operation the same is not removed from the containeras the space provided is sufficient for dipping of the paint brush. Thestraight edge ID of plate l5 provides a brush wiping edge for removingexcess paint.

In operation the user holds the plate IS in place with one hand androtates the handle 28 with his other hand. It iscontemplated that thepresent mixing device might also be constructed of such dimension as tobe selectively used with a pint or quart container. In that case, it iscontemplated that the blade 34 may be eliminated, if desired.

Referring to Fig. 4, the upright shaft 46 carry there is shown thecentral platform 50 corresponding to platform l6 and fragmentarily theadjacent horizontally arranged flange 52 which corresponds to flange I?in Fig. 2. The platform 50 is upturned as at 5| defining a sleeve withinwhich is pressed and secured the cylindrical bearing or bushing 53 whichjournals manually rotative shaft 54.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the claimswhich follow for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A paint stirring device adapted for use upon a cylindrical paintcontainer comprising a centrally apertured substantially semi-circularplate positionable over the open end of said container, an uprightbearing secured to said plate in registry with the aperture therein, amanually rotative upright shaft journalled through said bearing andplate and adapted to be projected down into said container, asubstantially iiat rectangularly shaped upright paddle secured at oneupright edge to the lower end of said shaft, with its other upright edgeadapted to be extended toward and in proximity to the interior surfaceof said container, and an upright paddle blade hinged at one uprightedge to the other upright edge of said paddle and adapted forpositioning in coplanar registry therewith.

2. A fluid stirring device adapted for use upon a cylindrical containercomprising a centrally apertured substantially semi-circular platepositionable over the open end of said container, an upright bearingsecured to said plate in registry with the aperture therein, a manuallyrotative upright shaft journalled through said bearing and plate andadapted to be projected down into said container, a substantially flatrectangularly shaped upright paddle secured at one upright edge to thelower end of said shaft, with its other upright edge adapted to beextended toward and in proximity to the interior surface of saidcontainer, and an upright paddle blade hinged at one upright edge to theother upright edge of said paddle and adapted for positioning incoplanar registry therewith, the bottom horizontal edge of said paddleblade being serrated.

3. A fluid stirring device adapted for use upon a cylindrical containercomprising a centrally apertured substantially semi-circular platepositionable over the open end of said container, an upright bearingsecured to said plate in registry with the aperture therein, a manuallyrotative upright shaft j ournalled through said bearing and plate andadapted to be projected down into said container, a substantially flatrectangularly shaped upright paddle secured at one upright edge to thelower end of said shaft, with its other upright edge adapted to beextended toward and in proximity to the interior surface ofsaidcontainer, and an upright paddle blade hinged at one upright edge to theother upright edge of said paddle and adapted for positioning incoplanar registry therewith, said hinge including a curved tongue onsaid paddle loosely extending through a slot in said blade and with saidpaddle having an extension in substantial alignment therewith to limitthe opening pivotal movement of said blade into coplanar relation withsaid paddle.

l. A fluid stirring device adapted for use upon a cylindrical containercomprising a centrally apertured substantially semi-circular platepositionable over the open end of said container, an upright bearingsecured to said plate in registry with the aperture therein, a manuallyrotative upright shaft journalled through said bearing and plate andadapted to be projected down into said container, and a substantiallyflat rectangularly shaped upright paddle secured at one upright edge tothe lower end of said shaft, with its other upright edge adapted to beextended toward and in proximity to the interior surface of saidcontainer, said circular plate having a straight line edge on one sideadapted to cooperate with the adjacent rim of said container permittingaccess of a paint brush to the interior of said container withoutremoval of said plate, said edge also acting as a brush wiper, saidplate having an annular upright shoulder adjacent its periphery adaptedto cooperate with the interior wall of said container, said shoulderterminating at its upper end in a horizontally extending outwardlydirected peripheral flange which rests upon the upper open end of saidcontainer and extends laterally outward thereof, said plate having asecond annular upright shoulder spaced inwardly of said first shouldercooperable with the interior wall of a second container of lessdimension than said first container, said second shoulder terminating atits upper end in a second horizontally outwardly directed flange adaptedto rest upon the upper open end of said second container.

5. A fluid stirring device comprising a cylindrical container comprisinga centrally apertured substantially semi-circular plate positioned overthe open end of said container, an upright bearing secured to said platein registry with the aperture therein, a manually rotative upright shaftjournalled through said bearing and plate and projecting down into saidcontainer, and a substantially fiat rectangularly shaped upright paddlesecured at one upright edge to the lower end of said shaft, with itsother upright edge exended toward and in proximity to the interiorsurface of said container, said circular plate having a straight lineedge on one side cooperating with the adjacent rim of said containerpermitting access of a paint brush to the interior of said containerwithout removal of said plate, said edge also acting as a brush wiper,said container having an annular beaded internal flange at its open end,said plate having an annular upright shoulder adjacent its peripherycooperable with the interior edge of said flange, said shoulderterminating at its upper end in a horizontally extending peripheralflange which rests upon said beaded flange and extends laterally outwardof said container, said plate having a second annular upright shoulderspaced inwardly of said first shoulder cooperable with the edge of aninterior beaded flange of a second container of less dimension than saidfirst container, said second shoulder terminating at its upper end in asecond horizontally extending outwardly directed flange adapted to restupon the upper open end of said second container.

MARSHALL SILVER.

References Cited in the file Of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 88,289 Geiger Mar. 20, 1869 270,373 Bertling Jan. 9, 1883569,428 Saxer Oct. 13, 1886 782,126 Gilmore Feb. '7, 1905 979,558Pledger Dec. 2'7, 1910 995,610 Kuhl June 20, 1911 1,714,436 Rambo May21, 1929 2,123,600 Galente July 12, 1938 2,286,913 Kelly et a1 June 16,1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 142,853 Great Britain Dec. 2,1920

